After the discovery of the central nervous system stimulatory properties of 3-(1-methyl-2-phenylethyl)-N-(phenylcarbamoyl)-sydnone imine (Sydnocarb; U.S.S.R. No. 329,890 and Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,028,880) various analogues have been reported. U.S.S.R. No. 222,370 and Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,738,022 disclose sydnone imines which contain phenyl, 1- or 2-phenylethyl and the phenylisopropyl groups in 3-position as well as N-meta- and para-chlorophenyl and N-phenyl carbamoyl groups. Variations of 3-benzyl sydnonimines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,108. Other variously substituted 3-aralkyl sydnonimines are disclosed by Olovyanishinkiva et al., Khim. Geterotsikl Soedin, 2, 170-175 (1978) and 9, 1198-1203 (1975).
Sydnocarb is conventionally produced by cyanomethylation of amphetamine followed by nitrosation and ring closure with a mineral acid to yield sydnophen as an acid halide salt which is reacted with phenylisocyanate under mildly basic conditions to introduce the N-phenylcarbamoyl group. As an asymmetric compound, amphetamine may be employed as the initial reactant as the racemic d,l- mixture or as the pure d- or l-isomer to yield racemic or optically active sydnophen and ultimately sydnocarb.
Yashunskii et al., J. Med. Chem., 14, 1013-1015 (1971) disclose the marked (CNS-stimulatory effect of 3-(1-methyl-2-phenylethyl) sydnonimine (Sydnophen). The relative activities of a large number of alkyl, aryl and aralkylsydnonimines are presented in Table 1 on page 1014. Most of them including compound XVIII (2-hydroxy-1-methyl-2-phenylethyl-sydnonimine), were essentially inactive central nervous system stimulants relative to compound XIII (Sydnophen), demonstrating the criticality of the structure of the 3-substituent in the Sydnocarb series of compounds as far as CNS stimulatory activity is concerned. Thus, although the activity profile of Sydnocarb is not identical to that of amphetamine, or for that matter Sydnophen, CNS stimulatory activity is a common property of the initial reactant amphetamine, the intermediate Sydnophen and the final product Sydnocarb.
Although Sydnocarb and its derivatives disclosed in the literature form salts with various organic and inorganic acids, such salts are not appreciably water soluble and when stirred in water, the complex or adduct salt is broken up to reisolate the neutral mesoionic sydnone imine substrate. The salts of sydnocarb are not true salts, in the classical sense, in that they do not dissociate in water to form water soluble ions consisting of the protonated substrate and the corresponding anion derived from the acidifying agent.
The metabolites of Sydnocarb have been studied by several groups. L. E. Kholodov and E. T. Lilin, Mater. Resp. Rasshir. Konf. Farmacol. Gruz. 2nd 1977, 84-5 report finding hydroxylation of Sydnocarb at the beta carbon of the phenylisopropyl substituent and at the phenyl ring of the phenylcarbamoyl group, hydrolytic cleavage of the phenylcarbamoyl group and ring opening of the heterocyclic nucleus. They report that the psychostimulating activity of Sydnocarb is a property of that compound and not its metabolites. Polgar et al., Acta. Pharm. Hung., 48, Suppl. 23-24 (1978) and Xenobiotica, 9, No. 8, 511-520 (1979) report several hydroxylated metabolites and conjugates of hydroxylated metabolites.
The compounds of my copending application Ser. No. 171,423, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,609, were prepared by conventional techniques analogous to those employed in the preparation of Sydnocarb. Thus, a properly substituted phenylethanolamine is cyanomethylated with a reactant XCH.sub.2 CN where X may be --OH, --Br, --Cl, tosyl, and the like to form the intermediate: ##STR1## which is nitrosated with an excess of NaNO.sub.2 in aqueous HCl to yield the nitroso-nitrile: ##STR2## which upon treatment with HCl (anhydrous or in an alkanol, preferably isopropanol) yields the sydnonimine salt: ##STR3## which when reacted as an alcoholic suspension (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, etc.) with ##STR4## in the presence of a mild base such as sodium acetate yields the desired 3-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)-N-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-sydnonimine derivatives.